BXBX NOVEL Chapter 150: My What? [1/2]
[## ####!]
Huh? What was that? Some kind of transmission?
[## ####!]
Who was it from?
[## ####! ## ####! ## ####!]
It kept repeating, I wondered why? Still, the silence was quite comfortable. It's been a while since I could think like this in peace. I've met so many people, but it was always so noisy.
Huh?
Who did I meet?
Why couldn't I remember?
What was I even doing?
[M# ##R#!]
Damn it. My memory was fucked up! What was I trying to do?
Oh, right, I had to understand this strange transmission.
What language was it? It doesn't look Asian. I should ask ### she knows Japanese, right? You know, being a ninja and all.
Huh? I knew a ninja?
Well, yeah. I even know a Viking.
Really? When did I meet her? How did I even meet her?
It was when ##### was thrown away. We saved them and asked them to help us.
Did we?
[M# L#R#! W##E U#! I#S #E! A#R#!]
Let us ask the sisters from Europe, they were smart.
Huh? I knew someone from Europe? But I never left Arizona? Yeah, who was it?
[#Y LO#D! #AK# #P! #T# M#! #I#A! ]
Huh? I think some parts of that message got through. It seemed to be about computers, I should call... who should I call? I knew someone who was good with computers, right?
No you didn't
But I didn't know anyone like that. My last memory was when I went to some kind of concert.
No it wasn't
A woman with blue hair greeted us, right?
Did she? Why can't I remember anything?
The last memory I remembered was dying on the sidewalk. Ah, right. I already died.
This must be the afterlife. No wonder it is so peaceful. It is nice and quiet. Maybe I should just sleep here.
[MY LORD! WAKE UP! ITS ME! AIRA!]
Aira? Aira. My AI in Hellsgate. I remember now, I died and joined the reapers. Lilly welcomed me. I met Bella, who was good with computers.
Then Jo and Jasmine, the sisters from Europe.
Robyn was thrown out and when we rescued her I met Liv, a viking and Aki, a ninja. After that I met a lot of people. Right. I wasn't dead yet. My second life had just begun.
I was Limitless, a death seeker on the North American battle front. Where was I then?
[MY LORD! PLEASE WAKE UP!]
"Aira?"
[MY LORD! YOU'RE OKAY!]
"What's going on, Aira?"
[Ah! My Lord, please brace your face for impact!]
"My what?"
Then the world shook so much that the darkness began to crack. The next moment, the cracks grew and shattered, bathing my vision in blinding light.
Then I felt my body slam into something. A powerful jolt knocked the air out of my lungs. A painful burning sensation then engulfed my right cheek. In a reflex action, I grabbed my injured face and moaned.
"Ouch, that fucking hurt."
"You fucking asshole! Can't a day go by without you screwing everything up? As if the chaos with Production was not enough, you even dare to have a soul collapse here? Fucking bastard!"
With my vision blurred, I tried to find the source of the voice. Eventually, I saw an angry gangster in a sloppy suit, who seemed to be furious as he shouted curses at me.
"Have you come to your senses, you deranged fucker? I got enough on my plate as it is!"
Zachary Lynch, the nightmare, held out his soul-covered fist. Was he the one who beat the shit out of me?
[My Lord, welcome back. You briefly experienced a soul collapse. It is a phenomenon that occurs when a reaper is so overwhelmed by negative emotions that he begins to summon a demon.]
"It seems like I almost died," I murmured as I gently caressed my swollen face.
[Yes, my lord. Returning after being assimilated by a demon is exceedingly rare. Luckily, I got a hold of you and allowed the nightmare to separate you from the demon.]
I didn't quite get it, but I understood that Zach had saved me. I stood up and straightened my suit before reaching out to him.
"Thanks." I said with great difficulty.
My words were slurred by the deformation of my swollen cheeks.
Zach took my hand, then sent another powerful fist to my left cheek. I flew like a ragdoll in a video game and slammed backwards into an adjacent wall.
"Owww!"
"I collected payment. Now we are even." Zach explained as he turned and walked away.
As I tried to get up, I saw the pitiful state of the meeting room. Philip was leaning against a nearby wall, his right arm bent the wrong way, while there were three holes the size of ping pong balls in his right shoulder.
"{Regen}. {Draw} Medbag."
I tried to heal my injuries so I could speak again. I was about to give Phillip a {Heal} tablet, but he refused.
He then placed an expensive cigar in his mouth and lit it with a Zippo lighter. A green glow enveloped his body as his injuries began to heal.
"This cigar is a Soulgear?"
Nodding, Phillip blew out some smoke as he would with a regular cigar.
"This is a mid-level healing soulgear consumable {Mend}."
Within seconds of smoking {Mend} Phillips' wounds began to heal. He twisted his right arm against a wall, and I heard the sound of bones fusing together.
"Ahhh! This never gets easier," he commented with a frown.
"I'm sorry about what happened Phillip, I didn't know what came over me."
"You mean this is the first time this has happened?" he asked as he calmly blew smoke.
"Yes."
"Well, I guess that is to be expected, you are under a lot of stress anyway."
Phillip bit into his cigar as he tested his newly repaired arm. After swinging it a few times, he stood up and returned to our previous topic as if nothing had happened.